Promises to keep
by yello13
Summary: THE Leverage team as a family. Nate loves his little girl,but when she turns up missing he and Sophie will do anything to get her back. And anything means evrything including killing a close 'friend' Please Review. Mystery fic. With periodic updates.
1. The Game of Life

**A/N this is probably one of the few stories that are multi-chapter stories that I promise I will finish. The beginnings is kind of slow but is introducing the Ford family so bear with me till the end of this chapter and please give reviews thanks. **

**Chapter 1 Promise**

**Nate**

I have a wonderful life. I am married to the most beautiful woman in the world, Sophie Deveraux. After two years of wonderful marriage Sophie became pregnant with our first born, Eliot. He was long awaited but he was here and alive. We named him after General Eliot P. Deveraux, Sophie's father.

Eliot is a strong young man who takes after me, if I might say. He has his mother's brown hair that he refuses to cut, and her beautiful brown. Everything else is mine including his instinct to protect. He is a black belt in karate. This is also why nobody would get pass him if they even thought of hurting his little sister. He is a charmer which reminds me of how I was at his age of 14. He had his girls on waiting list but, the one he is most interested in is a blonde girl named Tara. I remember him coming home and telling us about how much he loved her blonde beautiful hair and, voice. He is hooked on her and, even though he could have any girl he wants he holds out for that girl, waiting for her to take his heart away. He is a good boy though, most of the time you only have to ask him once and he will do it, whatever you asked him to do. On other days when he chooses to be hard headed all it takes is giving him a little tap on the back, turning off the football game and remind him to do what he was told. Often enough it always has something to do with his little sister. There is a big age difference seeing as he is 14 and she is just turning 5; he finds her quite annoying while she absolutely adored him. Saying that when it comes to taking his little sister out along with her best friend Alec, who happens to be our next door neighbor that's when he gets his little attitude. None the less he loves his little sister and would do anything for her.

Elizabeth, who liked to be called Parker, was our doorstep child. She had been through a lot over the past five years of her life. Before we adopted her she had gone through a bucket of abuse. You didn't have to be told to know. When we first met her she was afraid of me. Actually she seemed to be afraid of everyone. She was a loner. When we found her she was alone at the playground, with her bunny drawing exquisite pictures into the sand with a stick, by herself, alone. The adoption people did not advertise her like they did the others. Instead they spoke of her with sadness in their voices. She was different. I knew it when I first looked at her picture that she was drawing on the playground. Instead of scribbles and scrabbles that you usually see from four year olds, you saw straight beautiful lines, which formed buildings and flowers. It wasn't a made up picture at all but, of a town something she knew by memory. She was unique, that's why she caught my eye. That's why the minute I saw her I knew she would be my little girl, that I would have her.

Elizabeth is extremely smart for her age. She knows things other kids don't know. Educationally she is a genius. She can solve problems in her mind. She can scout out buildings and remember a specific exit. She can estimate the number of folders in my office. She can count higher than the average second grader, yet personality wise, she is a lost puppy. She was afraid of the _people _in the outside world, more than the outside world itself. It took her 3 months to warm up to me. Sophie had to be in the same room for me to even touch her. Other than that she did not leave Sophie's side unless she had to go to the bathroom. Not even then sometimes. The room we so carefully prepared was not used for a whole three months. Why you ask. It was because while I was sleeping on the couch Elizabeth was up with Sophie. Elizabeth had nightmares, nightmares that left her in a cold sweat while screaming. So to resolve this problem Sophie sent me to the couch with a hug and a kiss, before lying down with Elizabeth to assure sweet dreams.

Parker was stubborn, just like every child is; only she was stubborn in different ways. She didn't ask for anything much but when she did she often found a way to get it. She wasn't the child who begged but the trickster. I remember our first 'holiday' together. It was Halloween, her first Halloween. After explaining what Halloween was, we dressed her up as a pumpkin and we started on our way. At first Sophie objected to taking Parker out for Halloween. She feared she would be scared. So instead of doing our fast paced run from house to house with our excited boy Eliot, we took it slow. Each time we told her that each monster wasn't real and that she was OK. To my surprise the only thing she was afraid of was the clown. When she saw the clown she ran behind me like her pants were on fire. After the crying stopped we figured we had enough candy and headed home. After checking the candy like we did every year and, keeping some for ourselves we let the kids pick 5 pieces of candy each. Sophie explained to our pumpkin that she would get 5 pieces of candy every two days until it ran out. Parker objected to her candy being 'stolen' and threw the first tantrum we had seen from her. Haven already being experienced parents we did not feel any remorse and watched until her tantrum fled from her body. Then we simply put the candy in our bedroom closet and sent her to bed. The next morning however we looked into the closet to find that the candy bag was no longer there. We looked deeper into the closet but, found nothing. We then went into Parker's room to see candy wrappers all over the floor. All though we were amazed at the fact that she got in our closet without a trace, we were upset and disappointed in her for stealing from us. Although we were mad we knew she learned her lesson because after that she refused to eat candy for a month, saying it was Evil for making her sick.

Parker loves her big brother. Eliot who was anxiously waiting for Parker quickly warmed up to the little girl and her to him. Since Eliot helped Parker get over her fear of horses they have been closer than a shoe and its shoe strings. Together they were basically untouchable, with Eliot's strength and Parker's flexibility (which we saw when we saw her doing flips off monkey bars in the park and off of swings) they just couldn't be touched, unless you were stronger than the average man of course.

Alec is Parker's best friend. We call them ebony and ivory because they are basically inseparable. He is one of the only people Parker is comfortable with. Sophie calls it puppy love but I like to keep an eye on my girl. Still he stands up for my girl and keeps her strong and even a tiny bit social. Eliot thinks of him as a little brother and even though he wouldn't admit it he cares for the boy and would protect him as if he was Parker. And even though Eliot often picked on the boy Alec couldn't help but say he looked up to Eliot as a big brother.

It took Parker the longest to warm up to me. I didn't figure out the problem until me and my beautiful wife and her best friend Maggie were celebrating a successful con, with wine. Parker saw the wine and responded in an outburst of tears. Sophie tried to calm her but; Parker was having none of that.

She yelled at me looking straight at the cup "Don't drink that! Daddy drunk that and it hurt!" She said screaming at me "Please don't drink that anymore, please" She then whispered.

Then I realized how many times she must have thought I would hurt her. We had a bar in one of the rooms of our big house. She must have been scared of having a repeat with her dad with me. After that I threw out every drop of alcohol out and replaced it with cranberry juice. After that I and Sophie had a long talk with Parker. We sat down and promised we would always protect her and no one would hurt her ever again. Too bad we couldn't keep that promise. Because as Eliot bust through the door in panic I heard the words I prayed I would never hear.

"Pops, Parker is gone! Someone took her." Eliot yelled with tears in his hours.

Sophie immediately sprang into action calming Eliot down but still asking questions.

"Did you do what we taught you to do if someone was following or tried to hurt you" She asked urgently trying not to let the panic come out in her voice or the tears that sprang to her eyes to fall.

Eliot nodded his head as he started to describe the man. "There were two, the first man was about dads size had brown hair blue eyes. He had some type of accent not heavy. He also wore a black suit and looked kind of familiar. The second man had blonde sandy hair and a scruffy but not thick beard. He had blue-gray eyes and he… he kind of looked like Parker."

"El, did they leave anything at all?" I questioned.

He held out his hand nodded once more. There in the note was a com, a phone, and a letter attached.

**The letter read**_: Miss me, didn't you? How does it feel to have your love one taken from you? Put the com in, and have fun while you listen to all the things I am going to do to your princess. My number is in the phone when you want to have your little girl back, after we have some fun of course, call me. I'll be waiting._

_-Enjoy__**, A.M.S.B**_

I hung on to Sophie as tears sprang from her eyes. "We have to find her." She whispered in my ear.

"We will, even if it is the last thing I do. I promise"

_Someone would pay_

_Every day _

_Until I found my little girl_

_My baby_

A/n so did you guys like it?


	2. The Games begin with Lullabies

**Yeah inspiration struck so read on.**

**Chapter 2 Lullabies **

They were all here Maggie, Archie, Quinn, and the dumb fool named "Chaos." Maggie is Sophie's best friend and assistant when it comes to the art of grifting. She is very intelligent and her knowledge of art is very useful while on cons. She is very beautiful, her beauty not quite comparing to Sophie's but beautiful indeed. Then there was Archie, he was an old school man but very modern all in the same. He was the head thief along with his assistant Paige. He had been improving Parker's skills as a thief as she was already skilled enough to shop lift which Sophie disapproved of but often came in handy when her small body could easily slip through small gaps. Paige wasn't here today seeing as she was not needed, today Archie was only there for comfort. Parker adored Archie and him to her so even though his body language said the opposite, he was worried. Next there was Quinn, Quinn was simply a Hitter, he was appointed to them on the terms that if anything went wrong he would be the man coming in. Eliot had become very fond of him, having someone to be rough with other than me was exciting and they often had battles to see how much Eliot had improved.

Finally there's Chaos, the young man is very strange, he's very abnormal and although he has a big bucket of cockiness he seemed to humble himself when around Alec. He does indeed brag around the young boy but, he's more content on teaching him and Alec eager to learn.

With everybody here Nate placed the com in his ear while Chaos connected it to his laptop to make the audio hearable to everyone in the room. As soon as he did the room was filled with and eerie creak as the person's com connected with his.

"Hello Nate" the strangely familiar voice said casually.

"What do you want?" Nate asked calmly, not giving him the satisfaction of hearing him panic. If he broke down now Sophie wouldn't make it for she was already half way down the road from a mental breakdown.

"I want to hurt you of course, right Parker?"

Silence filled the room once again.

Suddenly the silence was broken by the sound of a loud bam and a heart wrenching scream. The bastard was hurting her.

"Momma, Papa!" she cried out.

"You hear that Nate, your little girl wants you."

"Stop it." Sophie yelled with tears running down her face in rapid rivers. "Please" she whimpered using Quinn as support like she was going to fall. Sophie started muttering something in another language, the only word Nate could pick up was location, place and, where.

"Momma buio" Parker cried out in pain and Sophie cringed as she heard another whack being place on our girl.

"Dark, she said it is dark." Sophie said translating Parker's words.

"Papa, I want to go home." Parker spoke again while letting out another cry.

"It's Ok honey, mommy is coming soon." Sophie was now broken down on the floor, clutching Parker's favorite stuffed animal, Mrs. Bunny.

"Are you Sophie? By the time you get here she just might be…"

"Shut up you bloody bastard shut up!"

"Dad we got to get his ass." Eliot said waiting to be scolded on his use of language but, no chastisement came.

"You know this is your fault Nate." The man said and he could almost feel the evil smile radiating off of him. "You and your team are always meddling in other people's business, well how you like me now." He continued.

"Please just let her go." Sophie begged.

"Oh no see I have a little surprise for you before I tell you my proposal, Maybe it will persuade you more."

The TV screens started to light up as a dim light room appeared with Parker and a man wearing a mask. There was a bath tub beside them and Parker lay naked in front of the camera, her face colored by hand marks and fresh bruises. Then the man placed his hand on her head forcing her out of her seat by her hair making Parker scream for what seemed like the 20th time since the conversation began. Even in the dim light you could see the steam coming from the tub.

"Come one lets sing her favorite song Sophie."

Sophie just sat in shock, looking dead at the screen

"You know the words, your mom use to sing it to you, come on Sing it!"

The man dunked Parker into the water holding her head under as Parker struggled.

"Please stop."

"I'll sing it" Nate called out.

"Oh, no Sophie must do it. I wonder how long a five year old can hold her breath."

"I'm a little tea pot." She started quickly trying to get it over with.

"No, start over, I want you to sing it just like you sing to Parker every single night. Don't you want your little girl to sleep peacefully?"

The man holding Parker let her up for a second but then dunked her back in.

"Ok" Sophie struggled to get the words out of her mouth, but stood up and sang. "I'm a little teapot" she raised her arm like she was a teapot. "Short and stout." She pointed to her arm. "Here is my handle here is my spout." She stopped and closed her eyes as she tried hard to concentrate her breaths short. "When I get all steamed up I just shout." She tipped herself over. "Tip me over and pour me out"

The man let Parker out who was still conscious but was struggling to breathe.

"Mom-my" Parker breathed out her tears still being detected even through the surrounding water. She tried to touch her face but flinched at her own touch.

"Hmm she's strong but as you said yourself Sophie, now it is time for me to tip her over and pour her out." The man stuck a finger down her throat then quickly took it out, causing Parker to vomit. He then tossed Parker a rag "Clean that up, and when you get cold that could be your blanket."

Maggie was trying her best to help her friend but Sophie was beyond lost, watching that and not being able to do anything was just too much for her but she continued listening.

"Now that that's done here is my proposal. I'll give you each a task this week if you make the wrong move Parker here will be hearing some more lullabies but, if you fail Parker might be becoming little orphan Parker understood?" He looks satisfied on the camera.

"Yes" Nate and Eliot growled out at the same time.

"One thing is sure; someone is not going make it through another week alive. Will it be you to die first?" The lights went out then back on. "Let the Games begin Nate."

The TV turned blank and they were left there shocked listening to Sophie's sobs watching Maggie's silent tears not believing their ears.

But it was Nate who was being emotionally slapped back and forth as e thought to himself. _What have I gotten my girl into?_

**A/N how you like? Please Review thanks.**


	3. The Game of Observation

**A/N Thanks to my lovely beta Reader128. This is a short chapter but I hope you like it. Reviews are appreciated. Oh and most of the story will be third person but a few will have Maggie's, Nate's, Sophie's and Maybe Quinn's perspective in it.**

Nate looked at Sophie while she cried reluctantly. He had never seen Sophie this terrified, not even for her own life. Her eyes were glazed over with hatred and sorrow. She closed herself inside of her body. Even as Nate watched his wife curl up into a nonresponsive ball, he knew she was listening. Most of all, Nate understood that she was putting up a small cage that would allow her to think. He observed the scene, especially looking at the team's reaction. First, he looked at his son. He watched Eliot continue to stare at the wall, trying to avoid the tears that were willing to walk down his cheeks. Nate could tell his son wanted to punch something, anything. He also knew his son didn't want to draw attention to himself, all he wanted was his little sister, and for the most part Eliot was blaming himself. Nate didn't blame his son though; he was only wishing that what was happening was only a nightmare.

Nate turned his head towards Archie whom was the oldest among them. Archie looked thoroughly concerned as he pondered the situation endlessly. He would sigh every minute or so, such as to avoid the continuing silence. Parker was Archie's little apprentice, and even though he wouldn't openly admit it, he loved the young girl like a granddaughter. Nate shifted his weight and turned his body around to where Maggie was lying. In an attempt to calm herself, Maggie had named the second corner as her territory, mimicking Sophie's style of posture. The only difference was Maggie's demeanor was full of attentiveness but etched with worry. She was constantly looking at her friend in silence, encouragement to keep strong. Her body language however, leaned more towards anger as she relived her past memories of pain.

About six months before they received Parker, Maggie lost her son, Sam his godson, to a heart disease. Although she tried, they could not find anything that could potentially, surely help him. She was broken for months, but when Parker came along things changed. No matter how much Parker loved Archie, she adored Maggie. We made Maggie her godmother and often we would catch Parker calling Maggie "Mommy M". Nate couldn't even count how many times he had found Parker curled up asleep beside Maggie whenever she babysat. Parker had brought life back to Margret Julian Collins. She inspired Maggie to live life. No one will ever replace Sam in any of their hearts, but as the days went on, Parker's presence made Maggie's burden lighter. That's why if anything happened to Parker, not only would it be hard for Nate but it would practically destroy Maggie. It would feel like losing another child and that's something Nate believed she couldn't take it. But indeed if anything happened to that little girl, Maggie's beautiful smile would disappear forever.

Quinn was next in Nate's silent examination of reactions. Quinn seemed to keep emotions inside with a nonchalant pose like he was uninterested. That was how he always was. He hid behind what people thought of him, and most people thought he had no heart. Fortunately in true fact, he had a heart. Most people wouldn't have noticed Quinn's leg tapping the floor lightly. It seemed like he was just bored but in reality Quinn was quietly counting off the minutes, the seconds of how long Parker had been gone. Quinn was also planning how to make the man suffer endlessly. Quinn would do it without hesitation or remorse. Quinn was once a victim of abuse, which is what connects the two. He longs to protect Parker and that is what he aims to do. He would do it with all his might.

Finally Nate turned his attention to the 21 year old, Chaos. Chaos looked rather frazzled or rather discombobulated as his fingers ran relentlessly over the keyboard. He looked angrier, making Nate conclude that every cyber entry was blocked, or damaged. The person who was doing this was trained, and they would only find him when he wanted to be found. Chaos was panicked, but his pride kept him from physically showing it although his mind seemed to send out signals to Nate.

Then there was him, the honest man who was holding the entire team on his back. Nathan Ford is the honest man. His mind was racing for a way to approach the situation, but he couldn't. How could you destroy a man who couldn't be found? He was invisible, a devil in the flesh that made this situation unsolvable without more information.All they could do is sit and wait.

Fortunate enough it wasn't long before the TV flashed back on and the eerie voice rang through the speakers. Everyone's head popped up at the sound, and their attention was soon turned towards the TV screen.

"Quinn, let's play some shoots and marbles," The voiced hissed evilly.

Quinn didn't say a word he just nodded his head OK while he proceeded forward. He was ready.


	4. The Game of What's Her Name?

**A/N Hey guys sorry for the long wait for all my stories but life has been catching up with me. Because I of my lack of time I have not been able to do all the grammar checks and all so I am really sorry but I hope you still enjoy. Reviews are appreciated.**

Another voice rang through the house as another man began to state the job. Five pictures showed on the screen all of five woman.

The man on the screen gave neither sympathy nor a reason as to why the pictures were on the screen. Quinn could feel the evil smile that was radiating off of the man and knew what he was proposing. He wanted him to kill the woman, all of them.

"Ha, I see Quinn has gotten the picture. This is how we are going to play. Open the front door and pick up the package." Quinn did just as told. He placed the package on the coffee table and waited for instruction to open it. "Open it." Quinn opened the package and almost laughed at what he saw. It was an orange plastic sniper, like the ones you see in the arcade. No bullets, just an orange plastic gun, the gun that little kids were addicted to, and the gun that was harmless. Suddenly he the TV screen changed showing the area in front of their complex. The street was full of coffee shops and bakeries, corner stores and all. So yes the street was busy but Quinn had good eyes. Automatically his eyes searched for the five people he was chosen to assassin. Immediately Quinn caught the eye of one. She was wearing an orange dress with brown slacks along with a baby belly. He couldn't have been mistaken, the lady was pregnant and he paused as he pondered what he should do. Killing was a big difference between injuring and he knew there would be no exception. He had to kill them, one shot to the head. "Kill them" the voice said.

It was a game though. All he had to do was pull the trigger, the thought was relieving but he knew it was too easy. It just couldn't be that easy. So he put the gun in the direction of a man's arm and quickly pulled the trigger. Then he heard the quirk. He heard the small bang that signified that a gun had been fired. It was so real and he knew that was the real game. This was the reality of the game. He would shoot the 'marbles' out of the circle of the living and into death. He caught the sight of another woman and she too was pregnant.

"_No"_ he thought. That would mean breaking the only rule he lived by. _Spare a woman with sympathy_. She was a woman. She had done no wrong and that meant he couldn't kill her. It was his golden rule. It was his rule because once upon a time his mother had been innocent, his mother had been kind and beautiful until his father cut her throat and that was that. He had been so young when the situation had begun but the situation itself had made him who he was; he was a coldhearted bitter man at least before Parker came into his life. Day by day Parker had somehow softened his heart. Somehow Parker had gotten to him. That's why decision was so hard to make but, the voice in his head told him spare them sympathy.

He raised his gun though, and in five quick moments he pulled the trigger five times. He heard the screams and the panic outside the window as people began to run for their lives and others running to the woman's aid. He hadn't killed them, he had only aimed at limbs, and soft spots, things that could be easily repaired or adjusted.

The screen once again switched to his dismay, to where Parker was at. Her body was still convulsing and her breath was still shortened and that made Quinn wonder_: Had they done something else to her?_

Sophie looked at Quinn so evilly she looked as though she was going to kill him. He would have done it himself because from the looks of it, Parker was in for more trouble.

Big red words appeared on the screen saying "MISSION FAILED" This brought more tears to the ladies' eyes.

"Sophie" the voice called the desperate woman out. He was picking on her, he was haunting her and Nate acknowledged that. He was using Sophie as leverage as the stick meant for breaking.

Her attention was turned towards the screen in which her daughter lied. Parker's breathe wasn't regulated. It was fearful and ragged. Sophie could see Parker was trying to control herself but, what more could a four year old do. Yes, the girl was a genius but she couldn't control what her body was doing. It was shaken, it was in shock and thus Sophie knew Parker was having an anxiety attack. Soon Parker wouldn't be able to breathe, soon Parker would lose herself.

A man appeared beside Parker and his hand was placed roughly upon Parker making her scream in fear. She couldn't move though.

"Stop" Sophie yelled and her voice had so much authority, so much venom that the devil himself would have stopped for her.

The man paused but only for a second before he began his treatment. He took out a knife and slowly put the knife at the center of Parker's pale naked body. He pressed down on the sharp knife causing a line of blood to roll down Parker's stomach. She screamed but the man laughed at it like it was of pure enjoyment.

"Don't scream, the more you scream, the longer this will last."

Sophie wanted to scream, she wanted punch the hell out of that man. She wanted so desperately for the man to die that her mind became a fiery haze of hatred as she thought.

The man brought the knife up to the girl's arms and made a fast hard zigzag down it. Parker tried not to cry but it was hopeless. Her little brain could not process the thought of don't scream. The man brought his other hand down slowly around her body. He touched her tenderly and in a way he shouldn't have been touching the little girl.

Memories washed over Parker and her heart sped up.

"No, No, No, Stop, please!" She screamed making the man laugh more. He had no intention of doing what any of them expected, he only wanted to see the fear in her eyes. He wanted the satisfaction of knowing the little girl would never actually stop screaming.

"Sophie, aren't you going to help your little girl? She is having such a terrible time." This time this voice was different. It was a woman's voice and as the voice rang out from the screen, Sophie had recognized it. She heard that voice before.

The voice knew this and used it to her advantage. The man continued his treatment which caused Sophie's concentration to stutter.

"Who am I" The voice asked.

"I… don't know" Sophie admitted. She couldn't think for God's sake she couldn't even breathe how did they expect her to know what was going on. How could she know?

"Really you don't remember me?" the woman seemed enraged. "After all the hell you put me through you don't remember?" The rage in the woman's voice must have signaled the man because he put down the knife and began throwing punches at the girl. "Do you remember now?!" She yelled. Sophie was a mess; no one seemed to be able to help her because no one else knew. Nate couldn't beg for the girl's life because there was no negotiating and there was nothing anybody else could do. "WHAT IS MY NAME?" The woman screamed agitatedly alongside Parker's painful cries. Sophie just didn't know. "Well, I guess you will have to leave your little girl just like you left me behind, just like you did…"

"Shut up…MADISON SHUT THE HELL UP"

The woman laughed and let out a halfhearted clap. "Well, well, well, the Queen has awakened. Good girl."

Parker's screaming stop but her cries persisted.

Finally Nate spoke up. "Let me speak to my child." He said sternly.

"Sure" she said like it was nothing, she had gotten what she wanted, she was satisfied and she had broken the stick.

Nate's attention turned to his daughter in urgency. He had to get her breathing regulated and quickly.

"Parker will you breathe for me" he commanded. Her head lifted up at his voice but her breath remained irregular. "Let's count together." It was so silly the song but it had worked so well and he had to help his girl.

"1, 2 we love you

3, 4 you're my good girl

5, 6 take a deep breath

7, 8 it's ok to rest

9 go ahead and close your eyes

10, when you open your eyes you will be fine."

He repeated it over and over again until he saw Parker's breath regulate. He looked at her face intensely before the TV shut off. He looked at his broken wife and the team. He looked into all their sorrowful hearts before the question popped up.

_Who is Madison?_


	5. The Depth of Lonely the Lack of Regret

A/N this is not Beta'd at all. Sorry for the long wait and sorry for the bad grammar. Hope you enjoy still. You should get this chapter by the end of it so don't get distressed. I didn't go in detail because I kind of wanted to let you guys get your own ideal of the situation because if I went in detail it would have been way longer so here you go.

Chapter 5: The Depth of Lonely the Lack of Regret.

_Alone, she had to accept the fact that she was alone. She was different from the rest of the petty little school girls that decided to live in their own little imaginary worlds. She was so different from the others. She was different because she had seen the world. She had seen every seeable color that the world could possibly make up and therefore 7 year old Annalisa Charlotte Depru was different. She had been touched where she shouldn't have been touched. She had said things she shouldn't have said but somehow she had maintained the innocence that Annalisa was born with. She had maintained the innocence that made her who she was._

_Magnetic was another way to describe her. Some would say she was in no way alone; she had many people who adored her. She was naturally attractive and no one could say otherwise but, the need everyone had to be around her was the thing that made her lonely. No one could possibly understand her or exactly who she was because no matter how incredibly smart anyone was she was a forbidden character. She didn't even know who she was herself. Half the time she was someone's porcelain doll. She was an all around decoration used for its attraction and its attention to detail. The other half of the time she was someone who she liked to pretend was nameless. As she sometimes would find that she, herself was nameless and without a purpose. So her mind would give her someone to talk as she went through the day with charm and charisma as though her life wasn't as messed up as it was. _

_See her mind was some kind of corrupted thing that allowed her to be whatever she wanted to be. She could be Cinderella or Bella or anything that the seven year old could possibly imagine because she had the power to manipulate just as her mother once had the power. She liked the feeling though and it's sad to say that, that was the start of the dreadful yet satisfying career. She was a grifter. It gave her a satisfying taste in her mouth when with just one touch she could diminish someone's ownership of control, and the blood pulsed through her body whenever she heard the crack that signified that her mark was broken. Then when satisfied she would go home to the drunk that was her step-father and be as submissive as possible like the weak little girl he thought she was but, she was no little girl. She was much more. So for nine years she practiced the art of grifting alone until she was 16 years old. _

_After her parent's divorce she went to France where she started to practice her career on a more intense form. It was there where she met people like her, people with the power to easily manipulate. At first she tried to ignore the thought that there were others like her. She wanted to believe that this special power was hers and only hers but, she was wrong and the day that she realized that, was the day she met Madison Bellona. They clicked instantly, becoming friends the second they met each other. Unfortunately like most friendships, at some point they must come to an end and with the end comes a choice, to be merciless or merciful._

"_Why don't you understand?" Madison yelled_

"_Understand what Madison? What the hell were you thinking? You killed him. Did you think you were just going to kill someone and everything was going to be okay?" She looked at her friend's bloodstained hands. They had been arguing for a while and the more she stared at her friend's hands the more she was disgusted._

"_Why do you care that he's dead? He's just a man, a pathetic man!" Madison spat back with venom._

"_He is human…He was alive and you killed him, for what, to prove a point? He was innocent and you were…you were merciless! Look at the damage you've done. You're down too deep. You're broken and you need to be fixed!" _

"_Don't try to fix me because I'm not broken! I am you!"Madison screeched with her voice filled with disappointment followed by the words of betrayal. "You are as guilty as I am."_

"_You are not me. I still have a heart." Annalisa replied back solemnly. "But apparently you don't, you've lost it." She walked over to the door gracefully although she was slowly breaking from the lack of control. She opened the door and let a tear slip down her face as she prepared to say the three lettered word that would permanently destroy their relationship. "Bye" she said before she stepped out and closed the door. She sighed as she realized that it was the end. _

_She walked down the stairs and to the lobby before exiting out the doors and into the cold crisp air. Then hesitantly she pulled out her phone and dialed the three numbers that she would never truly regret dialing, 9-1-1. _

_That night Annalisa left France, and she changed her name to Lamia Credenda. She went to America and attended a school in Boston where she met a strange boy named Nathan Ford. Soon the memory faded and it soon became only as small fragment that lingered in the back of her head. When she turned 21 Lamia became Sophie Deveraux. Sophie Deveraux became a mother and a wife and as her life blossomed she soon forgot about the day she sent her friend to hell. She forgot about what Annalisa use to be or what she did, and Lamia became a turned over leaf that Sophie kept as a keepsake. She forgot about Madison and what she did but, she remembered the one thing that connected Sophie, Annalisa, and Lamia all together. They all had a heart. But, unlike the rest Sophie wasn't alone._

Maybe that's why Madison came back after all these years. Maybe it was because Annalisa was Madison's best friend that when Annalisa left Madison was left with nothing but, the feeling of _being alone_.


	6. Play it like a game

**A/N sorry for the long wait guys but I really had a hard time writing this chapter. I just kept rewriting it and rewriting it. This was the best version that I thought would be except able to my awesome readers. So if this chapter sucks I apologize along with my terrible grammar but reviews are appreciated good or bad. **

When Eliot was little there were times where he would look upon the action packed TV and smile with awe at the super heroes he saw. They were brave and polite although burdened with the services he or she felt required to do. They were honest and strong, fearless and respected. Superman, Batman and Spider man paraded Eliot's young soul creating the brave boy he was. He wanted to be a hero. No, not with the sometimes corny punch lines that made the comics of the comic books, he wanted to be a real one. He didn't want to be just a figment of someone's imagination. He wanted to make a change and perhaps as young boy that was such a silly want. Adults not really wanting to feed the illusion told him to wait, be patient, that he'll have his chance but as he stood there watching his family fall apart, he felt useless. He wanted to yell why. He wanted to know the reason behind this monstrosity. _Why hadn't he been watching her? _It was such a simple thing to do yet he hadn't done it and by the time he did he had only saw a glimpse of them, his sister's blonde hair glinting in the light. Alec saw and perhaps that's what made Eliot angrier. The fact that Alec had saw everything but never thought to say anything bothered him. Eliot knew it was not the boys fault but, knowing didn't make it hurt less. Unfortunately blaming someone else did. He wanted to cry. He wanted to punch something, anything just to stop being so angry. Most of all he wanted his mom, to save her. If anything he wanted to be her hero, to just go back in time so this would have never happened. He wanted his mother to stop crying.

Eliot walked over to his mother and placed a hand on hers. She looked up at him with tired, fearful eyes like she was on the edge of a steep cliff. She then placed his hand on her cheek before kissing it softly. Her silent tears fell on his hand, warm and wet, silently marking him as her comfort object for the moment. She held his hand to her cheeks for a while, taking in the roughness of it, the smell, and the feel. She imprinted on it like she was afraid she would forget it. As if she _could_ somehow forget it. Gently, Sophie pulled Eliot into her arms. Eliot almost felt suffocated by the tightness of the hug. Then quickly she pushed him away from her. She brushed her hair back in sadness and frustration as the tears began to fall again.  
"I'm sorry El" she whispered.  
"Mom...it's okay."  
She laughed at herself slightly in self-pity.  
"I'm the one who's supposed to be being strong for you and you're sitting here being so brave." She smiled, prideful of her son. "When did you become so strong? When did you become such a big boy?" She ruffled his hair, almost like she was trying to remember when he once was such a little boy.  
He shrugged, smiling slightly. He saw her hair fall back on her face again making him a little aggravated. He wanted eye contact. He wanted to see the depth of her despair and take it away. He wanted to _rescue_ her. He pushed her hair back for her and placed a kiss where the hair once laid. Her heart wrenching sobs shook her body under his touch.  
"It'll be Okay mom." He said even though it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than his mother. She nodded her head in response. Although her mind couldn't convince her that things would truly be okay.  
She was angry at herself, disappointed, dissatisfied. She so badly wanted things to be okay, to just wake up from this nightmare. She wanted to pretend that everything was just a dream, that someone would pinch her and when she woke up Elizabeth would be by her side, her family correct. She...she just wanted to be full again.

"Thanks, sweetheart" She said sadly although she made herself smile through her tears. She then carefully escorted herself out of the room along with Parker's brown bunny that sat on the ground beside the TV only about two days before.

She walked up the stairs and into Parker's purple painted room. It was spacious, fitting Parker's active personality. The dressers were filled with flawless paintings alongside dozens of colorful stuffed bunnies. '_Bunnies_' Sophie thought to herself. She had remembered all the silly names Parker had created for her little friends. _Pinky, Dinky, Lily, Philly, Billy, Bob, Sue. _Those were just a few names that Sophie remembered out of the dozen. She even recalled one of the bunnies' names being _Maddie, _short for _Madison._ Sophie sighed and, dragged her body to the bed in which Parker slept. She lay on the blue, white, and black plaid blanket and curled onto it hopelessly. While lying on the bed Sophie took in the scent of her daughter. The smell of expensive chocolate along with the special bubble bath that the young girl so enjoyed. It was Parker, everything Parker. To her shyness all the way to her athletic adrenaline, it was Parker and, the thought that some part of this evil scheme was her fault threatened to destroy her mind. Her head was spinning with a relentless pain that only intensified at the thought of her missing daughter.

'_Think Sophie' _she told herself. Repeatedly, over, and over, she told herself to think, to just think.

Raw emotion swept over her. She just wanted…no, she needed Elizabeth. She felt desperate. Like a teen whose phone has been taken away only with a stronger urge. Tears sped down her cheeks in rapid rivers. The faster the tears ran down her cheek the stronger the pain became and, the more her brain _relented_ in trying to think.

"God" She breathed out heavily.

God was the name she called out. She fisted her hair as she asked the question _where is he?_ Sophie had never played with religion. In fact she's pretty neutral about it although Nate himself is Catholic. Sometimes it never occurred to her as to why words like God would come out of her mouth or even why she knew of his name as a comfort but, she did. '_Should I pray'_ She would often ask herself. _Is there anybody up there?_ She just didn't like religion all that much. Sure, she would like to have something to believe in, to have what people claim is such a wonderful thing. But…with religion comes doubt. You find yourself asking why this or that happened. You try to figure out why are you here? What is _your_ purpose? Most importantly you found yourself asking the question of all questions. _Why_? She just couldn't throw herself into believing in something so simple. Perhaps maybe she was fooling herself, letting her be drawn into her old ways, needing the proof. She needed to see it, to breathe it, to feel it but it was more than that. She liked the thought of having her own purpose and to have _made_ her own purpose. To think that someone up high had the control over her, questions her own stability and she needed stability.

But then and there she felt different. She felt her heart lunge forward at the word God.

"No, no, no, no" She yelled at herself. She quickly ran out of her daughter's bed and into the bathroom that was nearby. She stared at her mirror that lay in front of her in distress. Her eyes where rheumy and swollen from her fast falling tears along with her hair lying as a slightly wet tangled mess on top of her head. She turned on the faucet and let the cold water splash onto her hands. Then almost instantaneously she splashed the cold water onto her face. "Wake up" She said and looked back up at her face surprised that it was still the same. "Please, please, wake up." She splashed water on her face again. When she saw once again that nothing had changed she slammed her hand down on the sink before she grabbed a brush out of the cabinet and began brushing her hair furiously. "Damn it God! Why are you doing this to me? Elizabeth did nothing yet you punish her when it is my fault. So why do you hurt her? Oh, mighty God who is suppose to spare innocent children. Hasn't she been through enough?" She gulped down the lump in her throat. She was sick of crying. "No answer…well let's bargain. If you bring Elizabeth back I promise….."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice said from behind her interrupted. She recognized the voice as Maggie, her best friend. "Bargaining doesn't help. I've tried it."

Maggie softly took the brush from Sophie and began brushing Sophie's hair herself. Their eyes interlocked from the reflection of the mirror. Desperate deep brown eyes locked on to mysterious and serene blue ones. With every breath that Maggie took Sophie did also. With one hand brushing her hair and the other rubbing soothing circles on Sophie's back Maggie looked intently into Sophie's eyes, almost as though she was reading into her friend's soul. _26, 27, 28_ Maggie stroked the woman's hair repeatedly in comfort to herself and the young mother. Finally Sophie's anger died down allowing Sophie to speak softly again.

"Is this how it felt?" she asked meekly.

"How did what feel like sweetheart?" Maggie asks innocently even though she knows perfectly well what her friend is talking about. She turned her eyes away from the mirror turning her attention towards Sophie's hair.

"When Sam…"

"Yes" She replied still brushing the woman's hair. _64, 65, 66, brush, stroke, brush_

"Did it feel like you were dying alongside him, that you should have tried to do something, that…?" Maggie stopped brushing the broken woman's hair for a second. She remembered this pain, the bargaining, and the misunderstandings.

"It's not your fault Sophie." She said sternly. She wouldn't let her friend go down that road. It would hurt too much.

"Isn't it? Madison wants _me_ for something _I_ did. I shouldn't have made Eliot take Parker to the park. I should have gone with her. She asked me over and over and over but this week was just so busy a…"

"I don't want hear another word of this nonsense. There was nothing you could do. Blaming you, trying to bargain, it's not going to bring her back. You need to concentrate on getting her back. We need to get her back." For the first time since the conversation, Sophie turned away from the mirror to truly look into Maggie's eyes.

"I just don't know what to do." she cried out in a soft whimper.

"We play it like game and we'll hope that luck is on our side." Maggie replied soothingly.

Her eyes turned to the right slightly to the body that was leaning on the door frame. Nate looked at her eyes in determination.

"Luck has nothing to do with it. It's strategy." They locked eyes before he turned his body away from her to walk down the hall back to where he would once again begin waiting. Then abruptly he stopped to look at the two women. "We'll are you coming?"

Dismissively they both stood and followed Nate. If _'luck'_ was on their side things just might be okay.

_It's dark. She knows everything is dark. She can feel the dark, breathe it in. It's scary. No, not the dark itself but it's the noises that peep out from the dark that make it scary. She's numb. The needle that was struck into her arm earlier was the result of her paralysis. She wants to get up. She wants to be able to feel something to know that she is alive but, another side of her is glad because at least she can pretend that everything that is happening is just a dream. She can dream a five year old dream where she is rescued by some knight in shining armor. She can pretend that she doesn't somehow recognize one of those faces. She can pretend that she doesn't recognize his touch. She can pretend like she hasn't breathed in his scent before and she can pretend she doesn't know his name. She can and on the outside she lets her eyes become blank but, inside she knows. She knows what she knows and how she knows and why she knows. The cold against her skin only reminded her more. _

_Suddenly light filled the dark place where she laid. The little light provides some warmth and at the warmth she finds herself calling out to the person._

"_Daddy" she asks hopefully._

_Then with the light shone brightly on the man's face he smirks at her evilly._

"_Yes, Elizabeth, Daddy's here."_

_She burst into tears. Not because of the pain or because of the dark but because it's so hard to forget a face especially if that face is your worst nightmare._

**A/N how was it? **


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